You can peruse Mickey Mouse Club membership cards, circa 1934, from when the club visited the Fox Theatre in downtown.

There are photos galore of Robert Kennedy's visit to Stockton in the 1960s.

Former customers will either long for or lament the one-time presence of Gemco, Zody's and other Stockton stores.

The 1949 Memorial Day parade in front of Lerner's Shops. Stockton Sgt. (later police chief) Jack O'Keefe working a heist at a jewelry store. An aerial photo of the Deep Water Channel depicting where each of the shipyards was located during World War II. And does anyone remember the Astro Slides kids' fun park in Lincoln Center during the 1960s and '70s?

Why, there are even old photos of the Stockton Record building with classic cars cruising along California and Market streets.

Thank you, Alice van Ommeren and Gene Wright, for bringing Stocktonians along for the historic ride.

The Facebook sites are called "Stockton History" and "Memories of Stockton." If you love the city, or are even interested in the city, I'd suggest you find the page and become a "member."

What fun.

Stockton History was started in 2009 by van Ommeren, who has long collected Stockton postcards and is a Stockton historian. Stockton History just passed 2,000 Facebook members.

Memories of Stockton is run by Gene Wright, a local real estate agent with a feel for what the city was, is and can become. The site has about 600 members and focuses on more contemporary and recent images and memories of Stockton.

Rhondda Nunes, part of a multi-generational Stockton family and an active local musician, partakes of both sites. She sees them as more complementary than competitive.

"They have differences, but they work so well together and a lot of people post on both sites," Nunes said. "You see and sense a lot of pride in Stockton from the people on the sites ....

"I tend to be an optimistic sort of person about the city, and I sense there's a groundswell of support from others with those feelings. Stockton History and Memories of Stockton capture that, often by looking at the past - what we were and how we got here."

Type in "Stockton History" in Facebook's space to "Search for People, Places and Things" and you can be treated to a visual look of decades gone by - with civil and mature comments from its members. When she started the site, van Ommeren had no idea that within four years it would grow to have more than 5,000 images.

"There are a core group of contributors, many people who comment, and others who just like to look," said van Ommeren, who now basically lets the site run itself. "It's hard to keep up and organize all of the information, but people seem to navigate things well.

"I think Gene actually does a better job of organizing things on Stockton Memories. We'll refer to each other's sites a lot."

Wright joked that he doesn't know exactly when computers were invented but "I probably got one of the first ones." His passion for photography helped spark the idea to start Stockton Memories.

"Our site does have more recent and current photos, but I think it works alongside Stockton History very well," Wright said.

Kevin Shawver, who grew up in east Stockton, is a frequent contributor to the history sites. He often posts information or photos of the city's history that he's found on the Internet.

Shawver gained a keen interest in local history from a book owned by his father called "Stockton Memories: A Pictorial History of Stockton, California." It was compiled and authored by R. Coke Wood and Leonard Covello.

"That book really created a spark for me," Shawver said. "And now the Internet and Facebook have come along. It makes it so easy to share. ... More and more people are starting to share historic family photos now."

Personally, as someone who moved to Stockton in 1987, I'm fascinated by the city's rich history and culture. Stockton History and Memories of Stockton can provide a journey through the past and - if you dare to dream - a glimpse of what Stockton could once again become.

Contact Record Editor Mike Klocke at (209) 546-8250 or mklocke@recordnet.com.